Equestrian At The 2012 Summer Olympics
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equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
events at the
2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
were held between 28 July and 9 August at
Greenwich Park Greenwich Park is a former hunting park in Greenwich and one of the largest single green spaces in south-east London. One of the Royal Parks of London, and the first to be enclosed (in 1433), it covers , and is part of the Greenwich World Herita ...
. Medals were awarded in three disciplines for both individual and team competitions.
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
was the most successful nation, topping the medal table with three golds and five medals in total. They were particularly dominant in team events, taking two gold medals and a silver medal from three team events.


Events

Medals were awarded in the following competitions: * Individual dressage * Team dressage * Individual jumping * Team jumping * Individual eventing * Team eventing


Qualification

Each event has its own qualification rules, but generally rely on FEI rankings.


Dressage qualification

For the team competition there was a total of 11 quota berths available. Three team berths were awarded at the
2010 FEI World Equestrian Games The 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games (officially the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games) were held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. from September 25 to October 10, 2010. This was the sixth edition of the games, which ar ...
. In addition 7 team berths were awarded at regional competitions (Europe: 3, America: 2, Asia: 2). In addition, should a country have qualified 3 athletes in the individual competition, they also qualify as a team and were allowed to compete in the team competition. For the individual competition, 50 berths were allocated as follows: 33 to the athletes who qualified from the teams above. In addition, the highest ranked rider from each of seven geographic regions qualified. The top ten riders based on FEI ranking who did not qualify otherwise were given berths as well.


Jumping qualification

A country may send up to four riders if it qualified for the team competition. Similar to dressage, teams of four riders were qualified at either the World Equestrian Games (WEG) or through a regional competition. The WEG awarded five berths, the regions six (America: two, Europe: two, Asia: two), and the hosts (Great Britain). For the individual competition there was a total of 75 berths allocated as follows: 45 from the above teams the rest regional or through rankings.


Eventing qualification

A country may send up to five riders if it qualified for the team competition. Similar to dressage, teams of five riders were qualified at either the WEG, a regional competition, or through a composite spot. The WEG awarded five berths, the regions seven (America: three, Europe: three, Middle East & Africa: one), the hosts (Great Britain). For the individual competition there was a total of 75 berths allocated as follows: 55 from the above teams, 7 through regional competitions and 13 through the world rankings.


Competition format


Show jumping

Five rounds are ridden to determine individual medals. Riders placing first through 60th (including ties for 60th place) advance to the second round. The top 45 riders of round 2, including ties for 45th, advance to the third round. The top 35 riders of the third round progress to the 4th round, but only up to three riders per team (so if a country has four riders in the top 35, one of those is not allowed to compete for individual medals). In the fourth round (individual final round A), the slate is wiped clean and all riders begin with zero faults. The top 20 riders in round 4 advance to round 5 (individual final round B), and ride another course. The faults for individual final round A and B and added together to determine individual medals. The team competition completes three rounds to determine medals. It runs concurrently with the individual competition (riders running over the same course) so team riders are also competing for individual medals. The first round for team competition is the round 2 course for individual medals. The top eight teams from the first team round advance to the second team round (which is the same course as the individual round 3). The scores for these eight countries over team rounds 1 and 2 are combined, and medals are awarded based on those scores.


Dressage

Teams are made up of three riders, all of whom are also competing concurrently for individual medals. Additionally, countries who can not make a full team may send riders to compete for individual medals. All riders compete in the Grand Prix, which serves as the first round of both the individual and team medals. The top seven teams (included those tied for 7th) advance to the Grand Prix Special, which is a slightly more rigorous test. The combined scores for those teams in both the Grand Prix and the Special determine the team medals, with the team with the highest score winning gold. Riders completing the Grand Prix test (first qualifying round of the individual competition) may move on to the Grand Prix Special (second qualifying round for the individual competition) if their team is in the top seven (21 riders total). Additionally, the top 11 riders who do not qualify with a team may also advance to the Special to ride for individual medals. The top 18 riders from the Special move on to the third individual round, the freestyle. Each rider designs their own test for the freestyle, which must be set to music and has several compulsory movements. Riders can tailor a test to their horses' strengths, as well as incorporate movements that are more difficult than those required in the Grand Prix or the Special (such as a pirouette in
piaffe The piaffe () is a dressage movement where the horse is in a highly collected and cadenced trot, in place or nearly in place. The center of gravity of the horse should be more towards the hind end, with the hindquarters slightly lowered and grea ...
) in order to increase their scores. Individual medals are assigned based on scores in the freestyle.


Eventing

Competitions for team and individual medals ran concurrently. Riders performed a dressage test, a cross-country round, and a jumping round. Team medals were then awarded by adding together the best three scores from a country's team, out of a maximum of five team members, from all three phases, the team with the lowest number of penalty points winning the gold. The top 25 individual scores after the first show jumping round performed a second, final, show jumping round to determine individual medals, with up to 3 riders in the individual running per team. Therefore, those competing for individual berths completed one dressage test and cross-country round, and two jumping rounds.


Officials

Appointment of officials was as follows:https://data.fei.org/Calendar/ShowDetail.aspx?p=53D9C5ADC8F4AA89DF7F1768D9C22E15 ;Dressage * Stephen Clarke (Ground Jury President) * Jean-Michel Roudier (Ground Jury Member) *
Wim Ernes Willem Egidius Johannes "Wim" Ernes (2 July 1958 – Schimmert, 1 November 2016) was a Dutch equestrian dressage coach from Schimmert. Ernes was seen as an icon within the Dutch equestrian sport. He was twice the coach of the Dutch national dressag ...
(Ground Jury Member) * Leif Törnblad (Ground Jury Member) * Gary Rockwell (Ground Jury Member) * Evi Eisenhardt (Ground Jury Member) * Maribel Alonso de Quinzanos (Ground Jury Member) * Wojtek Markowski (FEI Technical Delegate) ;Jumping * Stephan Ellenbruch (Ground Jury President) * Kim Morrison (Ground Jury Member) * Jon Doney (Ground Jury Member) * Freddy Smeets (Ground Jury Member) ;Eventing * Anne-Mette Binder (Ground Jury President) * Nick Burton (Ground Jury Member) *
Gillian Rolton Gillian Rolton (3 May 1956 – 18 November 2017) was an Australian Olympic equestrian champion. She competed in two Olympic Games, the 1992 Barcelona Games and 1996 Atlanta Games, winning a gold medal in team eventing both times on her horse ...
(Ground Jury Member) * Jon Doney (Jumping Judge) * Martin Plewa (FEI Technical Delegate) * Ataíde Pereira Barcelos (FEI Technical Delegate assistant)


Medal summary


Medal table


Medalists


Gallery

Gallery of some of the gold medalists in the equestrian events: File:Charlotte Dujardin 2012 Olympic Dressage-1.JPG,
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
's
Charlotte Dujardin Charlotte Susan Jane Dujardin (born 13 July 1985) is a British dressage rider, equestrian and writer. A multiple World and Olympic champion, Dujardin has been described as the dominant dressage rider of her era. She held the complete set of ava ...
on
Valegro Valegro (born 5 July 2002) is a gelding ridden by the British equestrian Charlotte Dujardin in the sport of dressage. He stands and has the stable name of Blueberry. He is a double World Champion in Dressage, he won Grand Prix Special ...
, winners of the individual dressage and part of the team dressage File:Peter Thomsen Barny cross country London 2012.jpg,
Peter Thomsen Peter Thomsen (born 4 April 1961 in Flensburg, West Germany) is a German eventing rider. He won the gold medal in team eventing at the 2008 Summer Olympics with his horse The Ghost of Hamish, and again at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...
rides Barny for
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in the team eventing File:Dirk Schrade King Artus cross country London 2012.jpg,
Dirk Schrade Dirk Schrade (born 29 June 1978 in Münsingen) is a German equestrian. At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event h ...
riding King Artus in the team eventing File:Ingrid Klimke Butts Abraxxas cross country London 2012.jpg,
Ingrid Klimke Ingrid Klimke (born 1 April 1968 in Münster, West Germany) is a German eventing rider. She appeared at five Olympics from 2000 to 2016. With her horse Abraxxas, she won two gold medals in team eventing at the 2008 Summer O ...
on Butts Abraxxas in the team eventing File:Nick Skelton on Arko.jpg,
Nick Skelton Nicholas David Skelton (born 30 December 1957, Bedworth, Warwickshire) is a British former equestrian who competed in show jumping. He retired at the age of 59 years old, on 5 April 2017. He began riding at age 18 months and in 1975 took two t ...
, pictured in 2006, was part of the British team that won the team jumping File:Ben maher cannes 2012.jpg,
Ben Maher Benjamin Richard Maher MBE (born 30 January 1983, in Enfield) is a British show jumper. He represented Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2009 European Championships in Windsor, 2012 London Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Oly ...
on Tripple X, pictured in June 2012, was part of the British team that won the team jumping


References


External links

* * * * {{Equestrian at the Summer Olympics
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
2012 Summer Olympics events Equestrian sports competitions in the United Kingdom Greenwich Park Sport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich 2012 in equestrian